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Tips on how to make riding in Japan affordable


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I'm interested in hearing everyones ideas on this. Here's my 2 cents: package deal bus trips/ onigiri, cheese and kit-kats for lunch/ discount coupons/ mizuwari apreski firewater/ sleep in your car or somewhere cheap/ creative ticketing. If you can do some kind of performance thing like juggling chainsaws you might be able to busk your way onto the mountain by thrilling the crowds who gather round the bottom.

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Certainly with you on the cheese issue there Davo. What a versatile and nutritious foodstuff it is?

 

I recommend taking a few different cheeses on the slopes.

 

For different resort/cheese recommendations see the other thread on the Forum.

 

Cheese!

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I usually go up there in a car very early morning with some girlfriend-made sandwiches and snacks, then hit the slopes as early as possible. Eat on the slopes. If I'm not staying, stay on the slopes until the very last moment and then wait a bit as the crowds disperse.

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If you go to a resort with those electronic ticket systems, some resorts have a machine where you return your little electronic ticket thing...and then the machine gives you back your 1000yen bond. If you hang around these machines around midday you can catch old people who have already had enough for the day, and buy their ticket from them for 1000yen. And at the end of the day when you've finished you can take the ticket back to the machine and get your 1000yen back..

 

This is a great idea if you drink alot the night before, then you can stay in bed until midday.

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rolleyes.gif

Good one!

 

Some people finish a "day" at around 2pm and will happily give their ticket or sell it to you for a very cheap price if you ask. Maybe.

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Get a friend who works at a resort.

 

Win some tickets from SJG wink.gif

 

Rent a car and 5 of you jump in it and go very early morning.

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Just a couple of hints -

 

Have a look at the resort's Japanese website. Sometimes they have printable discount coupons posted. Some have them posted permanently.

 

At sports shops, pick up some resort leaflets. These often contain small discounts for lift/meal combos.

 

In Nagano, the news-free Nagano Nippo Shinbun has coupons for ski resorts, even ones outside the prefecture. I got 1,000 yen off coupons for Suginohara which is actually in Niigata (for 4 people - not bad). So ask your Japanese friends if they get local newspapers with coupons.

 

Take a small billy-club with you when you go boarding, and lurk in the trees near the edge of the gelende. You can then pick up lift passes at a steep discount (if you use this technique, make it skiers only please).

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